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Mirrormask [2005]
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Editorial
Amazon.co.uk Review
This visually stunning film is the product of a collaboration of award-winning graphic novelist Neil Gaiman (creator of the much-lauded Sandman series), his frequent collaborator Dave McKean (Cages), and The Jim Henson Company, themselves no strangers to elaborate fantasies such as The Dark Crystal. and Labyrinth. As with the latter film, MirrorMask focuses on a young woman unhappy with her daily existence; here, the artistically inclined Helena (Stephanie Leonides), is at odds with her circus performer parents. When a careless insult appears to send her mother (Gina McKee) into a coma, Helena withdraws into the dark and elaborate world of her drawings, in which a scenario very similar to her predicament in the real world is unfolding. Gaiman and director McKean create arresting images to populate Helena's world, and the Henson Company brings them vividly to life with CGI; though the story is occasionally murky, the fantasy elements are imaginative enough to enthral what will undoubtedly be the film's toughest customers--younger viewers. --Paul Gaita
Dreamlike, surreal, amazing, unique....
Review date: 2008-11-25 Rating: 10 out of 10
...are probably the words that could best describe Mirrormask. It's an astonishing looking film, probably a little too bizarre for some people but if you like anything that's a bit strange, unusual and fantastical than you should find plenty to like here. The visuals are amazing, and the film achieves the rare feat of capturing the look and feel of a particularly strange dream you might have had. It's perhaps a little slow in places and the storyline might be a bit too simplistic, but it's the atmosphere and look of the film that is it's main strength and I can honestly say I've not seen another film that even remotley resembles Mirrormask - it's unique and unique films are a rarity to be treasured. Highly recommended, but it's a film that viewers will either love or hate. I love it.
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Reviews
Unwatchable
Review date: 2008-09-25 Rating: 2 out of 10
Well, I managed about 30 minutes and then had to turn it off. A fairytale with no magic, visuals with no sense of wonder, murky and multi layered sfx, leadenly scripted and so uninvolving it leaves one bewildered. Even worse is that the visual language and pace of the film adamantly refuses you access in an attempt to be different and radical. The berserk music score also annoys. On the plus side the female lead is very good, but then so what? Quite possibly one of the worst films ever made. Zero stars.
Arty and boring British film
Review date: 2008-06-11 Rating: 4 out of 10
I don't mind arty films if there's decent writing too..but this film was just producation design and creative CGI. Very original looking, but not enough to hold your attention past half an hour, which is when I gave up. I think art and film students would get something from it, but that's it.
Disappointed.
Intriguing If Too Abstract
Review date: 2008-04-20 Rating: 6 out of 10
Having watched Stardust and finding it okay, I found that one of my suitemates had left his copy of Mirrormask in the dormitory for spring break.
Being a newcomer to Gaiman/McKean, I watched the extras of the DVD before watching the actual feature. So I was aware that the film had a limited budget and was very much an "independent" film.
Knowing that, the film still did not start off very promising. Tensions ensue between Helena and her mother Joanna, both members of a family-owned circus. Helena and Joanna quarrel--Helena being tired of circus life--and the row ends with Helena essentially having told her mother to die. Unfortunately, Joanna suffers an attack of sorts during the circus performance and is rushed to hospital. On top of this, Helena's father is under financial strain with regard to the circus; and the family live in a dingy flat in Brighton. With no boyfriend or any real friends (apart from her fellow circus performers) Helena's outlet is drawing (all McKean's work). Her room is papered with drawings of a city, and even the dingy terrace of the flat is decorated with many of her sketched windows and suns.
One night, Helena's sleep is disturbed when she hears a violin. Leaving the flat, she follows the sound to two men in masks playing a violin. Suddenly, a sort of CGI gangrene starts swallowing up the architecture. Helena escapes with one of the masked men, Valentine, through a door. From then on, everything is done is a very stylized CGI.
Essentially, Helena has ended up in a world that resembles her drawings. Whenever she looks through one of the windows in the imaginary world, she can see into her bedroom, where there is another darker version of herself supposedly wreaking havoc. This other Helena is the Shadow Princess, who resembles Helena in the alternate world, which explains why Helena is constantly being mistaken for her. The crisis of the drawing world is that the Shadow Queen is desperate to reclaim her daughter and so encroaches with her shadow upon the other side of this world which is pure light. The problem, however, is that the Queen of Light is in a deep sleep and so can't defend the city. Therefore, Helena volunteers to track down the MirrorMask, which will supposedly restore everything to normal.
Yeah. It sounds dense but it's actually very simple. The light/dark dichotomy is fairly obvious as Helena has been usurped by her doppelganger and must find the MirrorMask to restore the balance.
I'd say that the simplicity of the story is the film's weakness. It feels like Gaiman pulled down a Literary Theory textbook and found Lacan's work on the mirror stage of development and Freud's work on the uncanny and crossed them with Alice in Wonderland and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Not that I don't like Alice or Dr.J.&Mr.H., but the film runs primarily on inconsistent and inexplicable dream logic; and the ending is rather open-ended as to whether or not it is a dream. Which is fine if you don't require closure.
That being said, I felt the film picked up quite a bit when Helena officially meets the Shadow Queen and undergoes that eerily seductive transformation when the wind-up ballerinas sing "Why Do Birds Suddenly Appear?"
It's certainly a weird film, but it's worth the viewing. I can't praise the film as a whole, but there certainly is a lot to like here.
a refreshing film
Review date: 2008-02-29 Rating: 10 out of 10
a brillant film for those who love a fairy tale with a dark side. it has a simple storyline wich is a definate positive in this film although it could be slightly better, the ending could have been more. it has an obvoious link with alice in wonderland and is thick with subtle comments on society and intercations of people. the cgi is refeshing as it used to create a dream world not an alternate reality with its mistic surealism. for those who are a fan of dave mckean as an artist this film is a must see essential. you can tell this is a film directed by an artist yet it is not a hardcore 'arty' film. there are brilliant performances from the actors and actresses who give real and belivable perfomances. overall a thourally enjoyable flm and i hope to see dave mckean directing more fims in the future!
Product Details/Specifications
Actor(s):
Stephanie Leonidas
Gina McKee
Andy Hamilton
Dora Bryan
Rob Brydon
Creators:
Stephanie Leonidas (Primary Contributor)
Dora Bryan (Primary Contributor)
Director(s):
Recording label: Sony Pictures Home Ent. UK
Manufacturer: Sony Pictures Home Ent. UK
EAN: 5035822384637
Binding: DVD
Number of items: 1
Format: Anamorphic, PAL,
Release date: 2006-06-05
Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Audience rating: Parental Guidance
Region code: 2
Running time: 97 minutes
Theatrical release date: 2005
Language: English (Subtitled)
Language: Hindi (Subtitled)
Language: English (Original Language)